On 18 August 2017, Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice-President and Technical Director of PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) and Viktor Petrusevich, Head of Sovcomflot’s Navigational Safety Division, delivered a report at the Russian Education Youth Forum – Terra Scientia, on the Klyazma River. The report was delivered as part of the Forum’s session for young professionals in the transport sector, in which Sovcomflot is a partner.
Mr Tonkovidov informed the audience about key aspects of Sovcomflot’s operations, emphasizing that the company pays special attention to the development of shipping in the Arctic. Over the past decades, SCF Group has accumulated unique expertise operating in the Arctic and subarctic seas, and half of its fleet consists of high ice class vessels.
He informed the session participants that Sovcomflot has been successfully serving three key Arctic oil-and-gas projects: Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, and Novy Port; it also serves two major Far-Eastern industrial projects: Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2. The company’s Arctic and subarctic projects involve 27 vessels, including 16 shuttle tankers and three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
“These projects involve SCF Group’s most advanced vessels, those incorporating unique technology which enables them to operate efficiently and safely in the ice-congested waters of the Arctic seas,” Mr Tonkovidov noted. In particular, SCF Group’s Shturman Albanov series of shuttle tankers, which serve the Novy Port project, are capable of year-round Arctic navigation in temperatures as low as –45°С. The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) awarded this series of tankers Ice Class Arc7, the highest possible class for existing transport vessels.